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Egypt: After the revolution

It is two years since Egyptian anti-government demonstrators began taking to the streets in a series of protests that swept President Hosni Mubarak from power.

Click on the slideshow below to find out more about key moments in the country's difficult transition to democracy during the last 24 months.

Egypt's revolution began on 25 January 2011, the "Day of Revolt", when tens of thousands of marchers occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against President Hosni Mubarak and his government. Simultaneous protests were held across the country. In the following days, demonstrations became more violent, coming to a climax with running clashes in Cairo between pro- and anti-government demonstrators.

Despite efforts by the authorities to disperse the protesters, they refused to move and set up camp in Tahrir Square. On 4 February, dubbed the "Day of Departure", hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Cairo demanding Mr Mubarak leave office. But it took another week for the president to accept his fate. He finally agreed to step aside on 11 February after protesters marched on the Presidential Palace.

After Mr Mubarak’s departure, Egypt’s parliament was dissolved and the country’s constitution suspended. The Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces declared it would hold power for six months or until elections could be held. But while major protests subsided, uncertainty about the country’s future meant many protesters continued to return to Tahrir Square, calling for their demands for change to be met.

Tensions soon built between the pro-democracy movement and the new military leadership. Protesters were drawn again to Tahrir Square to press military rulers to keep promises on political reform. Demonstrations turned violent. However, despite the unrest, voting in parliamentary elections took place between November 2011 and January 2012, with the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party taking almost half the share of votes.

Newly-elected representatives of the People’s Assembly - parliament's lower house - met for the first time in January 2012 and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces transferred legislative authority to them. However, a court later dissolved the assembly amid accusations that it was dominated by Islamists. Despite this, in May, voting began in Egypt’s first free presidential election, with the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi declared the winner in June.

The Islamist president’s first months in office were marked by political tensions and street protests. One of his first acts was to issue a decree overruling the court decision to dissolve parliament. The move effectively placed a panel tasked with writing the new constitution above judicial review. Amid public outrage, Mr Morsi later rescinded most of his decree, but still pushed ahead with a referendum on the draft constitution, which was approved in December.

Opposition groups continue to accuse Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood backers of betraying the goals of the revolution. They want to see radical changes to Egypt's newly-adopted constitution, which they say fails to guarantee personal freedoms and rights for women and minorities. Parliamentary elections in 2013 are likely to set the stage for yet another electoral battle between surging Islamists and their fractious liberal and leftist opponents.

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